A Lover's Blessing
by SkywalkerChild
Summary: AU--Callista finds the Force just in time to lose Luke


DISCLAIMER: George Lucas is the god of the Star Wars universe. I am not into offending deities.  
SPOILERS: The Hand of Thrawn series, plus Children of the Jedi, Darksaber, and Planet of Twilight.  
RATING: PG, for maybe one suggestive line  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I wrote this after seeing someone butcher poor Callista and felt the need to redeem her character because I like   
her so much.  
AUTHOR'S NOTE 2: This is pretty much AU  
  
A LOVER'S BLESSING  
  
The world around her shifted so slowly that initially the woman didn't notice. At first, it was just the way the wind brushed over   
her-the goose bumps originated much deeper than her skin. And then the water began to flow around her just like she wanted it   
to-lapping up against her legs, but always staying clear of her face.  
  
And then in the middle of the night, she felt it. She woke up to a pain in her chest and for a moment, she thought she was going to  
die again. But then she realized it was only her heart being broken.   
  
Luke, she thought and then the full impact of what was happening hit her. Luke Skywalker was over her. And she could feel the   
Force.  
  
The bittersweet irony of it did not escape her.  
  
*****  
  
Callista wasn't sure what had possessed her to book passage off of Chad and towards the Core, but she had done it the morning   
after her realization. She'd contemplated changing her look-dyeing her hair or putting in colored lenses for her eyes, but ultimately   
she decided that this reunion needed to be done right. As Luke and Callista, not as Jedi Master Skywalker and a new student.  
  
She could have gone to Coruscant, of course, gone to talk to Leia first. But Callista had been away from the Force for so long that   
she genuinely needed a few reminders on how to use the power she'd been born with. That Luke Skywalker, her former lover,   
was the only person truly capable of training her was something she knew painfully well.  
  
The jungle moon of Yavin IV was exactly as she'd remembered it-muggy and sunny. She blinked a few times as she stepped off   
the shuttle, adjusting to the bright rays on her blue eyes. The humidity clung to her short brown hair and she ran her fingers   
through it, trying to break apart the clumps. A familiar figure walked up to greet her.  
  
"Are you the new student?" Tionne asked, and then blinked a few times, making sure she knew who it was she saw. "Callista?" she asked as she dragged the Jedi-woman into a hug. "Why are you here?"  
  
"To be a student again, Tionne," Callista responded, returning the hug. "I had an epiphany of sorts and now I need some   
refresher-courses in how to be a Jedi Knight."  
  
"That's wonderful!" Tionne said and then a frown fell over her face. "Are you here to see Master Skywalker?" she asked.   
"Because if you are…"  
  
Callista dismissed Tionne's words with a quick hand motion. "I know all about it, Tionne. I only want to know who she is."  
  
Tionne nodded slowly, looking around to see if anyone was close by. "Mara Jade," she whispered.  
  
Callista couldn't help but stare in total confusion. Mara Jade? She'd met the woman, of course, and had even liked her. The fact   
that she was with Luke did not change this, but the sheer oddness of the pairing did confuse the Jedi Master's former love in a   
great, overwhelming way.  
  
"They're getting married, Callista, very soon, actually," Tionne continued. "I know he's going to stop by before the wedding but I   
don't know if you want to be here for that."  
  
Callista nodded. "I'm not here to cause trouble, Tionne; I just wanted to talk to him." She looked over her Jedi-friend and her face  
became serious. "Do you think I should stay?"  
  
Tionne took the question and thought it over for a few minutes. Callista understood that she had just put their mutual friend into a   
very odd position, but she had to know.  
  
"I think he'd like to see you," she finally said, but the pause at the end of her sentence left more to be said.  
  
"But?"  
  
She frowned. "But I think the timing is just a little…odd, that's all. If I thought we could hide you until after the honeymoon, I would   
say that would be our best option."  
  
"I don't want to hide, Tionne," Callista told the musically gifted woman. "I think I just want to tell him that I'm sorry."  
  
Tionne's face broke into a gentle smile. "Well then, I think I should find you a room and then you can talk to Master Skywalker   
when he gets here."  
  
*****  
  
Callista knew the day had come. Luke had become much more than a dot on her radar; he was now a glowing orb in her   
consciousness. He would be back at Yavin very shortly. Tionne had talked to as many students as she could, asking them not to   
tell Luke that Callista was there. It wasn't so much that Callista was hiding but rather that she wanted to know what Luke was feeling   
when he found out she was back and not allow him to cover it up by the time they saw each other.  
  
Tionne came to her just after lunch to tell her that Luke was in his quarters, without Mara. Callista got up immediately from her   
meditation and walked the well-known path to the room she had slept in while she had stayed at the temple the first time. She  
hesitated only for a minute before knocking.  
  
"Come in," he said absently.  
  
Callista opened the door slowly, just enough to slide in. She wanted this reunion to be private. Luke was packing some of his   
clothing into a bag, his back turned to her. She noticed that his hair had gotten slightly longer since she had left, but his body was   
still as defined. She cleared her throat carefully, and felt her heart stop as he turned around.  
  
Luke's blue eyes lit up with confusion, embarrassment and a million other emotions all at once. His lips were slightly parted, and   
he was still holding the shirt he'd had every intention of packing until that moment.  
  
"Callista." He breathed, rather than said, her name and the word made her skin tighten. She nodded carefully and forced a smile.  
  
"Hello Luke."  
  
He put down his shirt on the bed and walked until he was a half a meter away from her, where he stopped again. He opened his   
mouth several times to speak, but closed his lips again before any words fell out. He was shocked. She could feel that now. It   
felt good.  
  
"You're back…I thought that…well…" he fumbled for any words that would do the situation justice.  
  
She shook her head a little. "You don't have to tell me anything, Luke; you certainly don't have to explain."  
  
"Then you know?" he asked.  
  
She nodded again. "Yes, I know. I'm happy for you, Luke; I didn't really expect you'd wait forever." *But couldn't you have held   
out just another year?*  
  
"Callista, I…" he swallowed against whatever had caught in his throat. "I waited for you, for a very long time. But then one day,   
Mara just…she was different. I don't think I can explain it." He looked her over carefully. "You haven't changed."  
  
She smiled sadly. "But you have." He wanted to interject, but she put up a hand. "You're more sure of yourself now, Luke; more   
in control of the Force. I'm happy that you've come to understand it more."  
  
"And you?" he asked quickly.  
  
"I'm here for training, just like every person who has the Force as their ally. I might not stay as long as some students, but I do   
need to brush up on my skills."  
  
Unexpectedly, Luke crossed the remaining space between them and hugged her. "I always hoped you'd be able to come back,   
Callista, even if the circumstances have changed."  
  
Callista hugged him back with a degree of restraint. The feeling of his arms around her brought to the surface a wellspring of   
memories and emotions that she'd been burying for years. It felt good, and right, but she knew it wasn't meant to be. She pushed   
away from him, trying to be gentle.  
  
"I just wanted to say that…that I'm sorry, Luke. I'm sorry that I left you like that. But this was something I needed to do on my own.  
And I'm sorry if you felt you had to wait…although, clearly, that wasn't really an issue." The last words came out bitterly, not the   
way she had intended at all. "I'm going to go now, Luke, back to my studies. Congratulations," she added, turning to walk away.  
  
He placed his hand on her shoulder, stopping her. She wanted to run away, but the feeling of his skin on hers was so wonderful   
she stopped. Tears began to form in her gray eyes and she fought them back with everything she had.  
  
"Callista, if I thought there'd been a chance…" he said, turning her around, "I would have waited forever. But I thought that you had  
found someone else, started a family…I got lonely." He brushed away one of the tears that had escaped down her face.  
  
She looked up at him, biting her lip in an effort to contain more of the tears that were willing themselves into existence. Why was   
she feeling all of this now? She had truly believed herself beyond Luke, that she had separated her need for the Force from her   
need for him. Had she really been working all these years to come back to him? No, she didn't think so.   
  
But Luke was a man hard to get over. Even if she had found someone else, this moment would still feel this painful and be full of   
indecent and unfulfilling desires because Luke brought out so much in her.  
  
"You had every right to get lonely, Luke. And you had every right to move on." She removed his hand from her shoulder. "Go   
pack for your honeymoon, Luke; your fiancée is waiting for you."  



End file.
